The Insider: Country matters

I love London - if I stray more than half a mile from Harvey Nicks I come over all shaky. But lately I’ve been making a regular journey on the choo choo from London to Norwich to executive produce for a young production company based in the city.

I’ve always thought the countryside was a great place if you’re a cow, and marvellously useful as a breeding ground of punters for dysfunctional chat shows. Somebody somewhere is bound to be shagging their sister without asking permission. At the centre of this patch of scary greenery is regional television, where a missing cat can make headline news alongside national disasters. No wonder commissioning editors think regional indies are run by potato heads wearing bow ties and waving clapper boards.

My suggestion is that more commissioning editors brave the cobbled street that is the M11 and make it out here to meet the talent. It’s a huge misconception commissioners have that the regional indies are a dusty bunch. Alan Partridge has a lot to answer for - as does the phrase NFN: “normal for Norfolk”. It’s a well-travelled phrase that projects a dim view.

To a certain extent the dusty image of regional television is bang on. Whereas in London producers move around in a competitive process through which only the best survive, here in the regions the finger is stuck on the record, record and record button instead of on the pulse. There is really exciting talent to be found in this region - but you do have to look for it. Some of the production team here have taken some finding but they are as energetic and brimming with ideas as any London office. I’d like to name names but I can’t staple their feet to the floor. We’ve already had huge success with a big commission from Animal Planet, a big development for Channel 4 and a Germaine Greer BBC project. What we need now in order to grow the business is some financial help - some of that famous regional funding.

In order to get access to that pot of regional money we have to jump through many hoops in order to qualify for a share of a very small pot. Success is not always guaranteed. Development agencies have a preference for funding charities, public organisations and small to medium-sized enterprises. So far we’ve had no success in this area. Our hope is the broadcasters’ regional budget. Slowly we’re changing the image of regional indies and at last commissioning editors are beginning to take note. We’ve had some very encouraging conversations with broadcasters lately and the interest in working with Norfolk-based companies is growing. But it’s a struggle up a cobbled street dragging a milking cow and somebody’s sister behind me.
The Insider is an executive producer

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